Black and White: Darkkit
by Robincall22
Summary: Young Darkkit is in a Clan separated by darker coloured cats and lighter ones. The black cats do the bidding of the white ones, are often clawed for the slightest mistake. A strong cat must rise to the challenge of uniting all the cats as equals, but how can that happen, when a black cat with a mind of his own, is a cat that could easily end up dead?
1. Chapter 1

There was a squeak from the nursery as Darkkit pounced on Palekit. Palekit spun around and slashed her claws over his face, leaving him dripping in blood from around his...well, his entire face. Palekit glared at him.

"Well, now that oughta teach you how to treat a white lady," she hissed.

Darkkit shrunk back in fear. He had only been trying to have some fun. He was the only black kit in the nursery. Since Crowkit and Ravenkit had become apprentices, he had no one to play with. Whenever he tried to play with Palekit, Snowkit, Frostkit, or Cloudkit, they scratched him, or, if he was lucky, just yelled at him. Darkkit turned sadly and slunk back to Nighttail. She looked sadly at his face, then picked him up and carried him to Shadowwhisker, the black cats medicine cat.

Shadowwhisker looked at Darkkit's clawed face and sighed. "They just keep getting worse every season, don't they," he muttered to Nighttail. She nodded in agreement, then left the den, trusting Shadowwhisker to do his job and take care of her last kit. Nighttail was quite old, and Darkkit was her last kit before she would soon be either sent away or killed.

Shadepetal padded into the den, looking at Darkkit before unsheathing his long, sharp claws. He hissed at Lightheart as she trotted by, returning to her four waiting kits in the nursery. When she caught a glimpse of Darkkit, however, there was an obvious glint of pride in her eyes that was quite unnerving.

Every black cat got a terrible warrior name. Shadepetal had a very feminine name, to remind him of his place. Nighttail had a white tail, but had the name Nighttail to remind her that a bit of white fur didn't mean she wasn't still a slave. Shadowwhisker was fortunate; the former black medicine cat had given him his full name, and was merciful, but smart enough to not give him a name like Shadowclaw. That would make him sound strong, which was to be avoided at all costs.

Darkkit was sent back to the nursery, still thinking about warrior names. He had overheard Whitestar telling Icefang that he was planning to name Crowpaw and Ravenpaw, Crowfall and Raventail. Crows were birds! They didn't fall! And calling a beautiful she-cat like Ravenpaw, Raventail, was just a step above calling her Ravendung!

As Darkkit drifted off to sleep, he could've sworn that he heard a voice whisper "Darkheart. Rise like the stars and follow the path of pale, white light. But never forget the night from which you came." But then he wrote it off as him just going crazy, and slipped into a dreamless sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

Darkkit woke up to Nighttail prodding his shoulder. "Come on," she said. "Lightheart's kits are eing made apprentices." He scrambled to his paws and followed his mother out to the clearing. Palekit, Snowkit, Cloudkit, and Frostkit were lined up in front of Lightheart, gazing up at Whitestar on the WhiteRock. Darkkit watched as Icefang, the Clan deputy and the father of the kits, stepped forward.

"I am so proud that my kits are becoming warriors to serve their Clan. I look forward to seeing them be trained to hunt and fight for the good of their Clan." He shot a fierce look at Frostkit, who wouldn't meet his eyes. Darkkit couldn't help but wonder what that was about. He looked by the WhiteRock and saw Moonlight, Sunspots, and Silvershine lined up at the bottom of the pale boulder. Moonlight was the first to step forward.

"SouthClan, as you know, I won't be around forever. So it's time for me to take an apprentice. Frostkit, is it your wish to give up the life of an ordinary warrior and learn to heal your Clanmates and interpret the signs of StarClan?" Oh. That must be why Icefang had seemed so angry with Frostkit. Because he wanted to have all his kits become strong warriors for SouthClan.

Frostkit cast a furtive glance at Icefang before he spoke, but his voice held no regret as he mewed confidently, "It is."

Moonlight let out raspy purr before saying, "Then at the half-moon, you shall travel to the StarTree to be received by StarClan, and become a true medicine cat. For now, go sit with Shadowwhisker until the end of the ceremony." The newly named Frostpaw dipped her head at her new mentor, then turned to go sit next to Shadowwhisker, though it was evident that she was leaving a large gap between herself and the black cat medicine cat.

Whitestar now stepped forward. He opened his mouth to speak, but was cut off by a patrol rushing into camp. The patrol was made up of Bobbytail, a gray she-cat with ginger flecks, her daughters, Mousewing and Featherpool, and Batflight. "Fox!" Bobbytail gasped. "We tried to fight it off, but it beat us. We need backup _now_!"

Whitestar leaped off the WhiteRock and called to some other cats. "Icefang, Fireeyes, Brightfang, Shadepetal, Blackheart, Cavepelt, Crowpaw, and Ravenpaw, follow me! Mousewing and Batflight, lead us to the fox. Bobbytail and Featherpool, get treatment before you bleed to death in the middle of camp. We will finish the ceremony while feasting on fox!"

The huge patrol of cats rushed out of camp, and Darkkit turned to his mother, eyes wide. "Will Shadepetal be okay?" He was terrified that his father was going to die just a quarter moon before his apprentice ceremony.

"Don't worry, love. I'm sure he'll be fine." But Nighttail wasn't so sure. If four strong warriors couldn't beat a fox, could a large patrol do so without at least one cat getting killed? "Now, why don't you go talk to Shadowwhisker while I go speak with Lightheart?"

Darkkit scampered away to the black cat medicine den. However, once he reached it, he could hear multiple voices from inside. He paused just outside the den to listen to them.

"Now, while your new mentor is treating Bobbytail and Featherpool, she asked me to tell you something. About four moons ago, we both received a prophecy. Well, less of a prophecy and more StarClan sounding mysterious, as usual. Our previous mentors visited us and said, 'The darkest of hearts, frozen by frost. Revealed by a darkened den. It can be thawed, but only by the palest of white.'" Darkkit peeked around the edge of the den as Shadowwhisker sat back, looking at Frostpaw to see if she thought anything of it. From the look on her face, she was as baffled as Darkkit. Darkkit waited to see if she would say anything, but just then, there was a ruckus at the camp entrance, and, as he turned to look, the fox burst into the camp.

 **Haha! Sorry for the cliffhanger, but a few minutes to plan what will happen next. I'm going to update my other stories soon. If you haven't already, please check out my Dumbclan story, The Flight, Innocent or Guilty?, Tigerclaw's New Beginning, although I do plan to change the title on that, and The Warrior Princess, which is a Wings of Fire fanfic. I also have a Looking For Alaska fanfic, but that one is rated M for self-harm. And because, you know, it's a** ** _Looking For Alaska_** **fanfic. Anywho, Robincall out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**We** **lcome back to Black and White! When we left Darkkit, a fox was closing in on him. I'm hoping that this chapter will fully grasp the point, I guess you could say, of this story. Enjoy reading, and please leave a review, I love to know what people think of my writing! All constructive criticism is more than welcome, along with things you like or dislike about the story! But please don't review anything that is meant to put someone else down. Thanks!**

Darkkit could only watch as the fox barreled toward him. He knew that no white cat would save him, and he didn't see any black cats that were close enough to help him. He was going to die!

Out of nowhere, a dark blur shot in front of him, clawing at the fox's face. Blood spurted from the fox's muzzle, and it swung its head at its assailant, growling. Claws red with fox blood, muzzle pulled back in a snarl, revealing sharp teeth, was Shadepetal. But no other cat was near. If Shadepetal tried to fight the fox on his own, he would be slaughtered! Darkkit had to help, but he had no idea how to fight.

 _So go with your instinct_ , whispered a little voice deep in his head. Darkkit figured that fighting with his instinct and making enough time for other cats to come help, rather than doing nothing and watching his own father die in front of him was a better plan, so he waited until the fox had turned its back to face Shadepetal, then he lunged for its fluffy tail. It tickled the roof of his mouth, and he wanted to let go, but instead he bit down as hard as he could. Out of the corner of his eye, Darkkit saw the fox raching around to bite his head, so he decided to wait until the las second, then let go, in the hopes that the fox would bite its own tail.

Darkkit dropped to the ground a heartbeat before the fox's jaws clamped around him, but as he rolled away, he heard teeth snap on empty air. By now though, Shadepetal had time to plan his attack, and he jumped onto the head of the fox, biting down on its ear and digging his claws into its skull. The fox rapidly shook its head back and forth, in an attempt to dislodge the foreign object attached to it. Before he was flung off, Shadepetal leaped off. By now, Nighttail was there to help. She attacked the fox's flank, while Darkkit's half-sister Batflight clawed at its haunches. After a moment of this vigorous battering, the fox turned tail, and ran out the camp entrance.

Nighttail turned to face Shadepetal. "What in Starclan's name happened? How did that fox get into the camp?"

Shadepetal lowered his head in shame. "It got past us. I don't know how, but it did. I'm sorry. I know our son could have died."

Whitestar stepped forward. "Nighttail, you have only your fellow black cats to blame for this near disaster. They were in charge of tracking the fox. It's all their fault!" he snarled.

Nighttail spun around to face her Clan leader. "All their fault," she hissed. "I didn't see any white cats fighting for my son's life! And in the time it took me to get to them, four of you could have been there already! My mate and son could have died, and none of you would have cared!"

"Well, do you really expect us to risk our lives for inferior black cats?" Whitestar stated cooly.

Darkkit, Shadepetal, Nighttail, and Batflight all gazed at Whitestar in disbelief for a moment, then Nighttail shook her head and led Darkkit back to the nursery. She told Darkkit to go to sleep, then went and sat outside the nursery to watch the rest of Lightheart's kits apprentice ceremony, which had been abruptly interrupted when the fox had needed to be fought off.

When he woke up, Darkkit was alone in the cool, shady den. He left the den to go find Shadowwhisker, assuming his mother was on patrol. When he reached Shadowwhisker's den however, Frostpaw was there, rather than Shadowhisker.

 _What is Frostpaw doing in the black cat medicine den?_ Darkkit thought to himself. He tried to peer around the apprentice, but only saw her nudging a few berries from the pile of juniper berries. He noted to himself how they looked a little different from the other juniper berries, and decided to tell Shadowwhisker that a few of berries looked to be going bad.

"Shadowwhisker and Moonlight are out collecting herbs, so I'll treat that sore belly of yours." Darkkit wondered who she was talking to, but had his question answered when he heard a voice rasp, "Thank you, Frostpaw. I'll be sure to put in a good word with Moonlight for you. I just want you to promise me not to tell Darkkit I had a bellyache. He'd be worried I was dying!"

Darkkit scowled at the ground. He did not worry that much over a bellyache! How dare Nighttail say that! "I won't," Frostpaw reassured. "Now just eat these berries, and you'll feel all better after a few moments." Darkkit wondered why Frostpaw sounded so sad. Surely, since she was treating her first patient, she had to behappy? Then again, everyone knew what to do for a sore belly!

There was a sudden hacking, and Darkkit jumped to his paws, dashing into the den. He looked at Nighttail, seeing red juice dribble from her jaws. He turned on Frostpaw. "That wasn't juniper! They were deathberries! Hurry, get me some yarrow!" When she made no move toward the herb store, he pushed past her, telling her to try and get all the berries out from her mouth. He grabbed a bunch of yarrow in his jaws, then turned back around. Frostpaw stood exactly where she had a moment ago, staring down at Nighttail the only thing that was different about the scene was that Nighttail wasn't moving.

Darkkit lunged at Frostpaw, dropping the yarrow. "Why didn't you do anything," he yowled. Frostpaw looked up and the bristling tom. Her eyes looked as though she was looking at something far away. Then, with a visible struggle, she focused on Darkkit.

She just stared at him for a moment, then her eyes glazed over again, she turned around, and walked away out of the den. Not a heartbeat later, Shadowwhisker and Moonlight padded into the den, chatting amiably. They stopped dead when the saw Nighttail, Darkkit lying beside her with his nose pressed into her fur. He looked up as they approached him.

"Frostpaw fed her deathberries," he whispered, his voice hoarse. The medicine cats glanced at each other, then began examining Nighttail and the den around them. Shadowwhisker counted his deathberry stock, finding that, yes, three of them were missing from the pile. Moonlight looked at the red liquid still streaming from Nighttail's mouth, sniffing it to make sure that it wasn't blood. Which it wasn't, of course. They then left to go fetch Shadepetal, Batflight, and Blackheart, Nighttail's older son, talk to Whitestar, and interrogate Frostpaw.

Darkkit stayed by his mother's side as his father and siblings came in and out, and stayed until the moon was peeking over the horizon, when Whitestar came into the den. He sat a few tail-lengths away, respectfully waiting until Darkkit acknowledged him.

Darkkit finally raised his head and gazed blearily at Whitestar, through tired, tear-filled eyes. Whitestar began speaking, keeping his voice low as not to disturb the grieving cat.

"I'm so very sorry, Darkkit. I know how much you'll miss her. I will too." When Darkkit let out a snort of disbelief at that, Whitestar let out a small purr. "It's true! We actually trained together as apprentices. Our mothers were best friends, and we always said that we would be best friends too. But after what we did, we knew that couldn't happen." Darkkit looked at the leader curiously. What could he possibly mean by that? "Your older two siblings, Batflight and Blackheart, have you ever wondered who their father is?" Darkkit shook his head. He had always assumed that their father was dead and that Nighttail didn't want to talk about it, so he had never asked. "Well, when your mother and I became warriors, we quickly realized that we had feelings for each other. But we couldn't be mates, it would tear the Clan apart! Before long, I got my first apprentice, Icepaw. You know him better as Icefang. Then, not long after he became a warrior, Nighttail and I both got apprentices. My second, her first. Silverpaw and Bobbypaw. During the time we were working together to train them, our deputy, Blizzardheart, died, and I was made deputy. Nighttail was so happy for me! I had finally gotten what I had been working toward. But I found myself often sending out hunting patrols of just the two of us, and after a time, we did less hunting and more talking. And we started going on long walks that went from dawn to dusk. And before long, she was expecting kits. A black warrior had recently died, so we said that the kits were his. Luckily, Batkit and Blackkit looked a lot more like Nighttaill than they did like me. We stopped spending time with each other after that. We couldn't risk having more kits and one of them looking like me and everyone figuring it out. But we never stopped loving each other, which is why I never took another mate, and I forced her on Shadepetal, as not to raise suspicion. I just never got to tell her how much I love her, and how sorry I am for caring more about what the Clan thought of us than what we thought of us. I hope she forgives me."

Darkkit just stared at his leader, who he had never known was more than just a leader to his family. Whitestar just dipped his head, and left. Darkkit was left to ponder everything he had learned that night. He saw Batflight and Blackheart across camp and began to wonder how many other secrets ran through the Clan. Just then, Frostpaw sat down in the center of the clearing.

 _For instance_ , thought Darkkit. _Did you mean to give my mother those deathberries?_ And on that accusation, Darkkit fell into a sleep filled with dreams of his siblings' fur turning white, and of Frostpaw lurching at him with deathberries hooked to her claws.


	4. Chapter 4

Darkkit woke up in his mossy nest in the nursery. It had been two days since his mother had died, and Frostpaw was growing colder every day. Shadowwhisker kept saying it was because she had accidentally killed a cat, but Darkkit was convinced that it was because she had successfully killed one cat, and now she could go on killing others. Bobbytail had moved into the nursery, but refused to reveal who the father was. Darkkit was suspicious that it meant that the father of her kits was a white cat or a rogue. Or maybe even a kittypet. She did sneak out of the nursery in the middle of the night last night. Darkkit was scared that everyone was going to be torn apart by the secrets he was convinced plagued the Clan. Fireeyes had been taken away from the Clan by Twolegs, though when a search oatrol found him, he was staggering about in the woods, dazed and confused. He was also much less active. And while he had been constantly flirting with Silvershine, he now showed no interest in her whatsoever, even going so far as to be disgusted when he had to patrol with her.

"Let all cats old enough to catch their own prey join here beneath the WhiteRock for a Clan meeting!" Darkkit sprang to his paws when he heard the call, swiftly grooming his long black fur. He helped Bobbytail to her paws, for she seemed weary, probably due to her midnight walk. He then strutted regally out of the den, watching as the other cats of the Clan gathered below the WhiteRock, then, once they were all seated, strode forward and took a seat directly beneath the hulking white stone.

"Darkkit, you have reached the age of six moons, and it is time for you to be apprenticed. From this day on, until you receive your warrior name, you will be known as Darkpaw. Your mentor will be Cavepelt. I hope Cavepelt will pass down all he knows on to you." Darkpaw's heart sunk. Cavepelt had just been made a warrior half a moon ago. He was just about the worst choice of a mentor Whitestar could choose for him.

Whitestar turned to Cavepelt. "Cavepelt, you are ready to take on an apprentice. You had received excellent training from Bobbytail, and you have shown yourself to be loyal and strong. You will be the mentor of Darkpaw, and I expect you to pass on all you know to Darkpaw."

Darkpaw shuffled forward and reluctantly touched noses with Cavepelt. He then immediately turned and went to stand by Shadepetal, Batflight, and Blackheart. They cheered his new name to the rising sun, and Cavepelt called, quieter, but cheering nonetheless. Bobbytail, Crowpaw, and Ravenpaw walked up and congratulated him a moment after the cheering died down, and Shadowwhisker purred, saying how proud he was of him.

"I know how much you've been through the past few days. I'm proud of you for continuing to fight on and be brave. If you ever need to talk to anyone, you can always come and talk to me," mewed the medicine cat. Darkpaw had often thought that Shadowwhisker had wanted him to become the next medicine cat, but he seemed pleased that Darkpaw was going to be a warrior.

Cavepelt nudged Darkpaw's flank. "Come on. I want to show you the territory." He paused for a beat. "Preferably _before_ the sun sets."

Darkpaw gave a nervous, desperate look to Shadowwhisker, then gulped and followed Cavepelt out of camp. Once outside, he followed the tip of Cavepelt's sleek tail, the camp swiftly disappearing into the bushes. A little further into the woods, Darkpaw caught the scent of a fox, and his fluffy pelt immediately bushed up. "Cavepelt! Do you smell that?"

Cavepelt paused, tasting the air. "It's stale. It's from a few days ago." Darkpaw shivered, recalling the moment when the fox came sprinting toward him, with its fangs bared. Cavepelt noticed his shudder and froze. "Oh…right. I'm so sorry Darkpaw! I forgot that it almost killed you!" The black tom seemed genuinely sorry, so Darkpaw figured he truly didn't mean to remind him of the horror of the past four days.

"It's fine. I know you didn't mean any harm," rasped the apprentice, now caught up in the memory of watching his mother die before him. Cavepelt let him remember for a heartbeat, then waved his tail in front of Darkpaw's muzzle.

"Come on, let's go," his voice gruff again. "We still have a lot of territory to cover, and I want you to get plenty of rest tonight, because I'm teaching you the mouse hunting crouch and a few battle moves tomorrow."

The duo continued on, pausing for Cavepelt to tell Darkpaw about a certain place good for battle training, or a nice place to hunt. When they had viewed the entire territory, and Darkpaw had been taught how to mark borders at the edge of the territory, the sun was sinking in the sky, midway between sun-high and dusk.

"Alright, now we're going to collect fresh moss for Bobbytail and your nest. In the future, you can normally get moss from Shadowwhisker, but if he doesn't have any, you may need to go collect some. So today, I may as well teach you how."

Cavepelt reched a paw up to the trunk of a tree, raking his claws swiftly down the bark, curling his paw toward him as he did so, stripping away the moss clinging to the tree, but not the dirt beneath it. He turned to Darkpaw, a strip of moss sitting by his paws. "Now you try."

Darkpaw stepped toward the tree, raising a paw and unsheathing his claws. He moved his paw toward the trunk, then quickly scraped his claws down the tree, leaving a smooth stripe of brown dirt left to the tree, but bringing the green plant along with his paw. He gazed proudly at Cavepelt, but his mentor was paying no attention to him. "Cavepelt?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, yeah, good job. Now keep collecting it until you have enough for two nests," Cavepelt ordered. Darkpaw ducked his head, then turned back to the tree, collecting moss until there was none left from that tree, so he moved on to another tree. He collected moss until the sun dipped below the horizon, when Cavepelt finally allowed him to stop, when Darkpaw's claws were aching, and the muscles in his paw were so sore he could barely lift his paw anymore.

Cavepelt and Darkpaw picked up all the moss and when they returned to camp, Cavepelt had Darkpaw go remove the dirty moss from Bobbytail's nest and replace it with some of the moss he had collected. After he had finished, he took the other half of the moss to the apprentice's den, but Ravenpaw and Crowpaw had already made him a nest. He went to ask Cavepelt what to do with the extra, but he had already gone to sleep as soon as they walked in the camp.

 _Of course_ , he thought sourly. _Of course he would go to sleep before his apprentice is finished with his tasks, not even thinking that I might need help._

He finally decided to take the left over moss to Shadowwhisker's den, but when he got there, Shadowwhisker said that he already had more than enough moss in his den, and that Moonlight didn't either.

"Then what am I supposed to do with it all?!" he cried in despair. Shadowwhisker paused, then must have decided to take pity on the exhausted apprentice.

"Fine. I'll take it, and use it to build an extra nest if any sick cats need to stay in here. I've always wanted one, but I've never had enough moss."

Darkpaw left the moss in Shadowwhisker's den, then went back to the apprentice's den and sunk into his nest, immediately falling into a deep, dreamless sleep.


	5. Chapter 5

**Happy birthday LoneWolfgirl101! Here's your promised birthday present, Day One, Chapter One! (Yes, I promised her a chapter every day for this entire week…although I have no idea what I'm going to write about…) So yeah, if you have any ideas of what I should write about, put it in a review or PM me, and I will decide whether or not I can work your suggestion into what I already have planned out for the main outline of this story.**

Darkpaw woke up with a start. It was already slipping from his mind, but he had a nightmare in which Nighttail's body decomposed in front of him, and she sat up, foam dripping from her jaws, rotten flesh, patchy fur, and hollow darkness in her skull where her eyes used to be. He shook himself, trying to put the nightmare behind him. He padded out of the den, glancing over at Whitestar as he did. He paused, one paw in the air as he watched Icefang snarl at him, fur bushed out, claws digging into the dirt.

"Move your tail!" snapped Ravenpaw, shoving him out of her way. She froze when she saw the leader and deputy arguing, then turned to Darkpaw. "Erm- don't worry. They, uh, do this a lot…" Darkpaw could tell that she was lying, and just as concerned as he was, but just nodded and turned to find his mentor. It had been half a moon since he had been apprenticed to Cavepelt, and he hated it. Cavepelt trained him vigorously, rarely allowing him to rest. They returned to camp after moonhigh, and were back out before the dawn patrol, even if they were on the dawn patrol. Darkpaw was the same size as Ravenpaw and Crowpaw, and they were three moons older than him. Darkpaw was the one who brought in the most prey, and recently fought off a rogue on a border patrol all by himself, but he still ate the least out of any cat in camp, being the youngest black cat.

Cavepelt glanced up as he approached, swallowing the last bite of his mouse. Darkpaw waited for him to stand up, but the black tom just sat there. "Well?" His mentor finally said. "What are you waiting for? Go restock the fresh-kill pile, then go back out and check all the borders." Darkpaw stared at him in shock. Was he crazy?! He was six and a half moons old, and he expected this from him. He snapped out of his trance, then turned and approached the fresh-kill pile, hoping to snag the last tiny shrew. "No!" Cavepelt called from across the clearing. "You slept in!" Palepaw swept in, snapping the shrew between her teeth. "Ha!"

Darkpaw made his way out of camp, where he quickly found that it had rained in the night, immediately slipping and falling in a puddle. So he wandered the forest, cold, wet, and alone, paying more attention to any signs of danger than any signs of prey. He was shivering by the time he caught a mouse, for it had started raining again. He knew he had to restock the fresh-kill pile, or he wouldn't be able to eat all day. He suddenly caught a scent of rabbit and traced it, quickly arriving to a tunnel. It was wide enough for him. He gulped. So many things could go wrong from this. The tunnel could collapse, he could get lost, in the tunnels, or he could come up above and have no idea where he was. But wouldn't the life of rogue or death be better than this life?

That settled it. Determination set in, and he squeezed down the tunnel, though luckily it quickly got wider. He vontinued to follow the scent, thankful that this seemed to be the only tunnel. Then he emerged into an enormous cavern, about the size of his camp, and rabbits took off down dozens of different tunnels. Without thinking about what he was doing, Darkpaw lunged at the nearet rabbit, snapping its neck, then continuing into the throng of rodents. He found a mother rabbit, huddled over her children, not running from their side like many other mothers were doing. He raised a paw, then crumpled to the ground as he caught a glimpse of the rabbit's haunches. They were pure black, but the tail was a snow white. _Nighttail_.

All at once, his full dream came rushing back to him.

 _The decomposed body of Darkpaw's mother rose from the mossy nest in the medicine cat's den. She tottered toward her son, legs stiff and cold. She hissed something, but Darkpaw couldn't understand her. She suddenly stumbled forward, though Darkpaw realized after a moment that she was trying to attack him. "Mother!" he cried out._

 _"_ _Avenge me," she snarled. Darkpaw cocked his head in confusion. "Avenge me."_

 _"_ _What? From who?" he asked._

 _"_ _Avenge me." And with that, three red berries rolled up to her paws. She bent her head and ate them, then seized up, collapsing to the ground, completely disintegrating into a pile of dust. Darkpaw leaped back in horror, mouth agape, with no sound coming out. He caught a glimpse of white fur moving away, and struggled to turn his head toward whoever it was, but when he finally wrenched his head around, the cat had changed into a huge white fox, who towered over him. All he could see was that the fox was male, and that there was a single star above his head. However, the fox suddenly reared onto its hind legs, blotting out the white light, plunging the dream into darkness._

 _Out of nowhere, two strange, pale green orbs began glowing in the shadows. Darkpaw suddenly realized that they were the fox's eyes, lighting up the darkness. Which was unfortunate, for at that moment, the fox's jaws were closing in on him, plunging him into darkness yet again, this time, not going to be relit. Ever._

Darkpaw stumbled to his paws, gasping. Only two cats in the entire Clan had those pale green eyes. Frostpaw and his father, Icefang. Frostpaw hadn't fed Nighttail juniper berries! He had fed her deathberries! And Icefang was going to kill Whitestar! Darkpaw couldn't let this happen. He scooped up his rabbit, then took off toward the tunnel he had entered from. Well, the one he thought he had entered from anyways…or was it that one? Or maybe it was…or it could be…oh, fox-dung.


	6. Chapter 6

**Oh my whiskers! I was so tired when I got home from band practice two days ago that I slept for eleven and a half hours! I had been busy all day yesterday, so I had no time to write and post a new chapter! So today…TRIPLE CHAPTER! Who's ready?! I know I am!**

Darkpaw looked around at the tunnels around him. He knew that the ones with the strongest rabbit scent would be the ones that led to the open air. He picked up the rabbit he had caught, then sniffed at the tunnel nearest it. He let out a loud breath of relief. There was a strong scent of cat there. It could only be his. He took off up the tunnel, until he bumped into a furry mass. A ragged looking tom spun around to face him, snarling. "Whuddya want?" he snapped. Darkpaw saw that he was trying to poorly hide half a rabbit, which was beginning to stink, and he could see a few flies buzzing around it.

"Please, I need to get out of here right away. If you could just point me in the direction of the nearest exit, I'll be out of here right away," he said silkily, hoping that the tom would take pity on him, rather than chase him down the tunnels, leaving him even more lost than before.

"Only if you take me with you. I haven't seen the light in moons. You can protect me though. I came down here because I'm too old to take care of myself aboveground." Darkpaw paused. He couldn't take this dark gray tabby back to his Clan, they would kill him due to his age. "My name's Slateta-Slate. That's it. Slate."

 _He was part of SouthClan!_ "I'm Darkpaw. I'm part of SouthClan. Did you escape or did they exile you when you grew old?"

Slatetail froze, then replied, "Is my vile son still alive? Icepaw? Of course, it's been moons and moons since he framed me for killing Starshine, the old medicine cat. He has these odd green eyes-"

" _Icefang_? But he's a white cat! And now his daughter is the new medicine cat apprentice. And she killed my mother…"

Slatetail stiffened and snarled. "He killed his mother and medicine cat, and now his daughter is killing mothers as a medicine cat? Oh, how ashamed he must be. What he tried to exterminate, and now his own daughter is continuing the legacy he wanted dead."

Darkpaw froze and gaped. Was it possible that the secrets in the Clan…were _related_ somehow?

 **So, as I was writing the ending, I was watching Castle, which is a crime show. It was Season 2, Episode 2. Double Down. There were two murders, and they seemed completely unconnected, but they really were COMPLETELY connected. I won't spoil the ending for anyone, but who has seen Castle? If anyone has seen the series finale, can anyone figure out what was up with that ending? Did they die, or did they have kids? Anyways, I'll be back soon with two more chapters!**


End file.
